Ravindra Jadeja (2008-2017): The evolution in pictures
90 years ago, the ruler of Nawabnagar, one of the princely states of colonialised India, upon first visiting the poverty-ridden town of Jamnagar, described it as an 'evil slum', and took it upon himself to modernise it. However, a serious bout of typhoid forced him to shift to England, and his nephew took on the onus of building the city.
The ruler, Kumar Ranjitsinhji, later went on to become one of the greatest batsmen of all time, playing 307 first-class games and 15 Tests for England.
Unknowingly, Ranjitsinhji's two biggest contributions to India turned out to be the feasting ground of another international cricketer, who was born 116 years after him.
Ravindrasinhji Anirudhsinhji Jadeja owes as much to the once-ravaged city, as he does to the tournament named after the princely king. Jamnagar and the Ranji Trophy provided the perfect platform for a left-arm spinner to become the No. 1 bowler in the world.
The son of a security guard, Jadeja was born in impoverished circumstances, but got used to it as a way of life.
However, the most difficult phase of his early years was coming to terms with the early demise of his mother. A despondent Jadeja later admitted that he mulled quitting the game altogether, but he battled along.
Jadeja moved on, and rose through the ranks, making a spot for himself as a 17-year-old in the 2006 U-19 World Cup. As was allowed those days, he got a second stint with the side in 2008, for the World Cup in Malaysia two years later. The latter team won, and Jadeja ended with 10 wickets from six games. The bat, however, didn't do much talking.
The start to his career was marred by his extremely ineffective batting, despite him meriting a place in the side as an 'all-rounder'. The biggest disappointment came when he was merely 21, and projected as the villain of India's failed World T20 title defence in 2009, after a three-run loss to England.
An unpolished Jadeja, still getting to terms with the towering levels of international cricket, bombed miserably, plodding 25 runs off 35 balls as India failed in their chase-able pursuit of 153 runs.
The very next year, against Australia in the same tournament's third edition, Jadeja the bowler lost all his bearings, getting smacked for three consecutive sixes in two separate overs, with Shane Watson and David Warner taking turns to do the honours.
Twitter, basking in the glory of being the perfect online bully, found its next subject of ridicule. Overnight, Ravindra Jadeja was affixed with 'Sir', a vacuous dig that went a tad too far.